South Korea loves its genre crime flicks and I love them for their devotion to it. Many of their mediocre wide release flicks top ours simply because they aren’t afraid to get their hands bloody and tackle dark subjects with grueling action. I never heard of Kim Hong-seon’s film , a film that was originally released in 2012 in S. Korea, but I’m glad it was picked up for home distribution here in the states because it’s actually a pretty fine crime flick with a bunch of fun twists and turns.
Traffickers opens up with a bloodied man escaping captivity on a cruise ship. We don’t know what’s happened, I assumed human trafficking, and when one of his captors tries to stop him, the two battle until they fall overboard and die at sea. Fast forward three years and Young-Gyu (Im Chang-jung), one of the original and best men working on the job, has transitioned from smuggling human body parts to smuggling stolen goods. The guy is a smart hard-ass who, like many men, has fallen in love, specifically with Yoo-ri (Jo Yoon Hee), his one weakness.
Yoo-ri is a ticket agent at the ship terminal where Young-Gyu receives his goods, but her father is sick and needs a transplant, so she turns to a loan shark for help, one that Young-Gyu doesn’t like. After losing an important shipment and eager to help Yoo-ri out with her financial issues, Young-Gyu decides to take on an organ smuggling job. It’s a complex job that involves kidnapping a passenger on board the ship and removing her heart before they get to China, all while trying to avoiding being caught by the distraught husband (Daniel Choi) and Yoo-ri, both of whom are looking for her.
Traffickers is a movie that takes its time to warm up. The film moves at a decent pace but without much interesting action early on. We get a lot of information, character development, and set-up that becomes vital for the second half, and once we hit that 65-70 minute mark, that’s when the action starts to pick up and the film really hits its stride.
Kim Hong-seon, who makes his feature directorial and screenwriting debut, takes us down a winding and increasingly darker path the further into the film we get. There are a ton of twists, some of which are a little ridiculous, but it’s hard not to get caught up in the moment as you’re pulled to the edge of your seat with anticipation. The director shows a lot patience and restraint as he takes us along this sadistic journey that requires both of those characteristics, without them, a genre filmmaker would lose the impact they’re searching for.
What I really liked about this movie is that it focused on the criminals, not the victims. It’s a nice change of pace for films involving trafficking, but it’s the constant uncertainty that keeps you intrigued. Young-Gyu is an admirable criminal, one that has a code, and even though he tries to play nice, this world is about money and power and those that have it win. That’s the theme that’s prevalent throughout the entire film, and while it results in one or two question marks in the plot, it does help make part of the ending significantly clearer.
Overall, I really enjoyed Traffickers and would go so far as to say that Kim Hong-seon’s film debut is a rousing success. The film was much better and different from what I anticipated based on the title, poster art, and lack of directorial film experience. While some of the plot twists were a bit out there, it was still fun going down that unknown winding road and until the screen finally turned black.
Movie Rating: A brooding, uncomfortable and plot twist-driven crime flick that most genre fans should enjoy (6.9/10)
Blu-ray rating: The movie looks good but comes with no special features 3/10
Traffickers hit Blu-ray, DVD and digital on December 23rd from Well Go USA.
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